Sinan Mahmoud, Thomas Watkins – The National June 11, 2025
US Embassy, Baghdad
The US State Department is preparing to evacuate non-essential staff from the American embassy in Baghdad as regional tensions flare over faltering efforts between Washington and Tehran to reach a nuclear deal.
Additionally, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the departure of military dependents from locations across the region.
The moves come as talks between the US and Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme appear to have hit an impasse.
President Donald Trump said he was less sure Iran would agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal, and Iran’s Minister of Defence Aziz Nasirzadeh said Tehran will strike US bases in the region if nuclear talks fail and conflict arises with Washington.
Mr Trump told the New York Post he was “much less confident of a deal being made”.
“They seem to be delaying, and I think that’s a shame,” the US President said, two days after voicing optimism about talks and claiming a sixth round of talks would take place this week.
The State Department said it conducts a constant assessment of “the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies”.
“President Trump is committed to keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad,” a department representative said in a statement to The National. “Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce our mission in Iraq.”
A US defence official told The National that Central Command is “monitoring the developing tension in the Middle East.”
“Centcom is working in close co-ordination with our Department of State counterparts, as well as our allies and partners in the region to maintain a constant state of readiness”, the official said.
A senior Iraqi diplomat told The National that the State Department informed the country of the withdrawal of non-essential personnel was due to heightened security risks.
Bahrain, home of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, hosts some 9,000 US troops. The US also has a military presence in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Syria and the UAE.
An Iraqi government official told the state news agency that the embassy evacuation relates to “procedures concerning the American diplomatic presence in a number of Middle Eastern countries, and are not specific to Iraq alone”.
“The Iraqi side has not recorded any security indicators that would necessitate evacuation,” the official added.
Earlier, Mr Nasirzadeh, the Iranian defence minister, said Tehran was prepared to target American bases in the region.
“If conflict is imposed on us the opponent’s casualties will certainly be more than ours, and in that case America must leave the region, because all its bases are within our reach,” he said. “We have access to them and we will target all of them in the host countries without hesitation.”
The Baghdad embassy has already been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel.
Meanwhile, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said in an advisory note on Wednesday that it was aware of increased tension in the Middle East that could lead to an escalation of military activity having a direct impact on mariners.
The UKMTO advised ships to use caution when passing through the Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz.
8 billion wogs on the planet now. Less than 500 million whites left. Time to start Waste Whitey III & put the kibosh on the white man.
how can there be a ‘nuclear deal’ when Iran doesn’t possess any nuclear tech to begin with? its all a psyop to start some war–a repeat of the Saddam scheme, but instead of fictitious WMDs now its fantasy ‘nuclear facilities’–of course both ‘sides’ are in on the conspiracy, just as Saddam was a donmeh agent, so is the Ayatollah. now you know
Iran a threat to the United States? No. But the Zionist International in America say such and its partisans want to attack Iran.
Gaza and the starving Palestinians a threat to the United States? No. But the Zionist International in America say such, and its partisans such as Randy Fine want to bomb it, as done to Japan.
Why? Because the Zionist International wants a Greater Israel.
The most insane, fanatic, with their God-inspired delusions of following some plan of their own making.
How hypnotized, manipulated is America to do the bidding of the Zionist International. Woe betide America. The Zionist International is our misfortune.
saddham was not in on it
you get some idiots on here
i was there working
saddham is not the man you read about in the papers
israel was demanding the US and UK bomb iraq as saddaham
had built up a fine country which israel did not like
saddham fought an 8 year was to weaken iran under pressure from the US
who are the jews attack dogs
“US prepares to evacuate…”
Sniff.. sniff… p.p.p..hew! I thought that was something that smelt like sh!t! ☹
It is all a farce of monstrous proportions. Let the fun begin!